Manichaeism: The Silk Road Religion
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Special thanks to Dr. Mattias Brand for co-writing this episode.
Bibliography
"MANICHEISM," Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2014, available at www.iranicaonli...
N. J. Baker-Brian, Manichaeism. An Ancient Faith Rediscovered (London: T&T Clark, 2011)
J. D. BeDuhn, The Manichaean Body in Discipline and Ritual (London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000),
I. Colditz, "The Abstract of a Religion Or: What Is Manichaeism?," in Mani in Dublin, ed. S. G. Richter, C. Horton, and K. Ohlhafer (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 47-70.
J. K. Coyle, "Foreign and Insane: Labelling Manichaeism in the Roman Empire," in Manichaeism and Its Legacy, ed. J. K. Coyle (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 3-24
I. Gardner, and S. N. C. Lieu, eds. Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
I. Gardner, The Founder of Manichaeism: Rethinking the Life of Mani. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
Z. Gulácsi, Mani's Pictures: The Didactic Images of the Manichaeans from Sasanian Mesopotamia to Uygur Central Asia and Tang-Ming China (Leiden: Brill, 2015).
A. F. de Jong, "A Quodam Persa Exstiterunt: Re-Orienting Manichaean Origins," in Empsychoi Logoi: Religious Innovations in Antiquity, ed. A. Houtman, A. F. de Jong, and M. Misset-van de Weg (Leiden: Brill, 2009): 81-106.
W. Sundermann, "Manichaean Literature in Iranian Languages," in The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran, ed. R. E. Emmerick and M. Macuch (London: I.B.Tauris, 2008), 197-265.
Gnosticism seminar: www.speakeasy.com/speaker/andrew-henry
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@ReligionForBreakfast Have you heard or read the Christ Letters?
Could you please tell me the books to learn about theology and the different religious
Can you please upload your seminars after they are done so others could view them?
Would love to see an episode on Manichaeism's influence on Augustine's theology and/or about his conflict with Pelagius!
You mention a discord server but I can't find any links. Is it possible to join, or is it a private server?
Man, that was the weirdest episode of VeggieTales I've heard of.
The early seasons are pretty rough. They didn't really get the formula down until the middle ages.
Thought you were going to make a Veggie Tales joke.
Zach: So they couldn't eat vegetables or frit? They just ate meat? Sounds like an Atkins diet.
Genius joke!
Why does something tell me that the people who practiced this religion back then would have probably would have liked Veggie tales?
I didn't know that's where the word comes from. In spanish "Maniqueísmo" is a pejorative term that describes a tendency to reduce reality to a duality of opposites like what is considered "good" or "bad" for example. Now it makes sense.
Like black-and-white thinking?
@@theMoporter Yep
Same thing in french with manichéen
Sounds like the situation in US politics where all problems are reduced to good/bad, left/right, which of course means they can never be solved as real life is never like that.
@overused palimpsest "Black and White" dualism is not a traditional part of ANY Abrahamic religion. And a Pagan religion is any ethnic religion regardless of their beliefs or practices, which doesn't apply to Maniaechism.
I did my senior thesis on religious syncretism on the Silk road and Manicheanism featured a lot in the texts I read. It's a fascinating religion, and the religious syncretism that you described in passing is utterly fascinating when taken a further look at, and Manicheanism wasn't the only one that did it - "Nestorian" Christianity (for lack of a more recognizable term) made fairly heavy use of borrowing religious terms and symbols as well. One of the things I found was that when translating religious texts from one language to another (or more extreme, one culture to another), it makes a lot more sense to borrow the religious terminology of the language you are translating into, so that your text is intelligible. Otherwise you are left with having to transliterate, and confuse your audience. I know in one case, it lead to the phrase "... all the angels and archangels" being translated as "... all the buddhas and bodhisattvas" among many other very notable borrowings.
I wrote my senior (undergrad) thesis on a very similar topic! I focusing on the Manichaean "Hymnscroll" in particular, which was a Tang-dynasty work found at Turfan. I looked at how the use of some Buddhist religious concepts (at least in the Hymnscroll) weren't just straight borrowing or gloss, but actually effected the content of practices & beliefs within those communities. Watching this video reminded me how much I enjoyed this topic.
Like how Buddhist texts in China used Daoist terms
or like how the Catholic church copied many features of roman religion, including vestial virgins/nuns. monks and priests did the same when they moved into the reat of europe like using the already famous 3 leaf clover symbol to explain the trinity to Irish pagans
Nestorians cringe
Catholics cringe.
Been fascinated with Gnosticism for a long time. The problem I had was that almost all the available sources were either strongly for or strongly against. Thanks for having a "Just the facts maam" approach.
He's really good at this. It's refreshing not to have to hold my nose through a religious studies video, most accessible sources are confessional or very bad at hiding their bias.
I have a clear bias against christianity (because when you grow to be an atheist sometimes you begin to not like your old religion) but I am fascinated with religions, unfortunately teology universities are more of a "priestmaker" than a "theologianmaker" thing here, and yeah, most sources that are not biased are just youtube videos, actual papers on religion? Mostly preaches the religion they are studying, but the atheist theologians are mostly so unsufferable, like that's why people hate us! So yes, the best way to watch theology content without any bias is this channel
@@Gustoberg Let's Talk Religion is also good, though his videos can get a little slow sometimes
I love his videos. Pretty accurate compared to other videos that covered my beliefs.
I can see why this religion didn’t make it to modernity, but I can’t help but respect Mani’s commitment to syncretism. A common modern view is that “all religions hold a piece of the truth” and Mani must’ve thought that too. He seems ahead of his time in a way.
Its decline around the same time of the rise of Islam.
But they can't all coexist as the truth since most religions contradict eachother
Don't the Ba'hai think the same ?
@@Zygomatic_Bolt Shhh, you're making wayyy too much sense, here.
@@Zygomatic_Boltthat's very true, but it doesn't mean you still can't learn from others. It's like saying all philosophy can't coexist because they contradict, but at the same time we also see how each philosophy influences each other. Not to mention most religions shift and change with other ideas and cultural influences throughout time.
The one dislike on this video is from St. Augustine.
The biggest Racist Augustine ever.
Or Confucius
Lol
You wouldn't believe how many Christians accuse Augustine of bringing manichean ideas to Christianity🙄
As a manichaean Augastine was a rather unfortunate man
In Hungary, we still have a plenty of Manichaeian imagery in some of our protestant temples. It's interesting how souch old beliefs could've survived until the reformation.
Thats amazing. Can you provide examples, im intrigued.
There are plenty of Manichaens in the Qarsherskiyan Tribe today still.
I am a proud Manichaen from the Qarsherskiyan Tribe.
Any plans to do a video about Nestorianism and it's spread into Asia? It's a very unknown and interesting subject.
THIS! The Church of the East is so fascinating and it's syncretic adaptation to so many cultural contexts is really cool
Please do!
This plz
YES YES YES YES YES YES
I was in the Valley in LA and saw a sign that said "Assyrian Festival" and followed the directions to a Church of the East and they were very nice, had good food and souvenirs like a coloring book with Aramaic, but I didn't really talk about their theology at all...
So far, the best and most succinct explanation of Manichaeism I have ever encountered in a brief format. You are truly becoming a great teacher.
I just discovered Mani last week in a chinese history book (in Chinese) documenting its influence in Tang dynasty where the Buddhist sect heavily criticized Mani religion as fake Buddhism. What a serepidity to see a video on Mani popped up now!
Can you pls tell the name of the book 😩🤚🏻
@@trikebeatstrexnodiff Sorry. I should have said Chinese history book in Chinese....that s why the serendipity is extraordinary because the topic is very obscure.
I can't actually remember the title of the book but I know where it is located in the local book store...
> serepidity
it's serendipity if you care to change :D
It also played a major role in the fall of Yuan dynasty and some believes it's the namesake of Ming dynasty
If you read that other book online, then the “serendipity” is called Google spyware (cookies, algorithms, search-history analysis, etc.) directing you to related content.
Last time I was this early, Augustine was still Manichean.
I wasn't this early since Christ was a corporal.
th-cam.com/video/gpaOy8b8X6A/w-d-xo.html
Went to Cao An, the last remaining Manichaeism place of worship a few years back. Felt surreal
I’m so curious to visit.
How was it surreal? Was it surreal in that it was kind of Buddhist but not?
Is it true that the temple is currently run by Buddhists?
@@marcomartinez1843 One of the interesting features of many temples in China is that many are religiously pluralistic. I've been to a number of temples in Sichuan which are Daoist, Confucian and Mahayana. No one bats an eyelid at this situation and they accept it as a perfectly normal possibility. It wouldn't surprise me if Cao'an were treated much the same way.
@@ReligionForBreakfast why talk about this backwards and dangerous thinking religion. It’s doesn’t do anything for the world
One of my favourite novels of all time is The Gardens of Light, and it’s about Mani and his life. 100% recommended!
What's the name of the book?
@@bencourtois1184 The Gardens of Light by Amin Maalouf
@@tobi1314 Thanks!
Sorry I was feeling a sleepy when I read your comment 😅
@@bencourtois1184Did you read it?
This channel is amazing, I love how you put links for papers, documents and information. This is the type of influencers we need!!
In Spanish we have the word Maniqueista, it is used as an acepción of manipulator, derived from the description of a politic that uses a divise discurse (two groups / black and white) to define that he is correct and right, and the ones inside the government are not.
A spanish speaker also, "manichaeism" or "manichaeist" is also used that way in English. And I don't know if you're claiming that is specifically that the populist claims that the government is wrong. Of course, the government can be as manichaeist as the opposition.
@@didack1419 Not at all, of course anyone can manipulate, I was only mentioning the origin of the use.
@@truvak That's what I thought, just for clarifying.
@@didack1419 good political point, because this is exactly what the greek government does, using Civil War rhetoric against the left.
Manis/Manichaeus is the root of this word that means thinking in two absolute opposites, ΜΑΝΙΧΑΪΣΜΟΣ
I disagree. The most common meaning of “maniqueo” in Spanish doesn’t implies manipulation, but a tendency towards an over simplistic black/white worldview or thought, ignoring nuances. Manipulation implies intention to deceive, which is not necessarily so, “maniqueismo” can be a product of sincerely held believes.
Sounds like a pretty complex scheme to get free meals, not gonna lie.
Buddhist Theravada monks are forbidden to work but must eat food given to them as gifts by laypeople.
@@zelenisok same issue
Not gonna lie, your comment isn’t clever, funny or insightful
@@rorylynch1203 This is the problem with the uncritical approach assumed by some religion scholars - it doesn't allow them to see when it's really just a brazen scam to prey on vulnerable and credulous people (pun intended).
@@rorylynch1203 It did get you to react, so that's something at least.
Very nice video. A few things of interest that caught my eye that may be entertaining for others:
1. That statue of the Buddha that shows up multiple times has two symbols for "middle" on them, one on the right sleeve and one on the left sleeve.
2. Xradesahr is a very interesting name. Directly translated it comes directly to something akin to "The Lord Christ", and we can see here a later period version of the ending for kingship as seen in names such as Nebuchadnezzar (which the ezzar/esahr ending may be sideways-acquaintable with the later "Caesar", "Czar", etc).
Thanks for a great vid!
A Google search of the word "Xradesahr" indicates you don't know what you're talking about. Are you making this up as you go along?
www.deepdyve.com/lp/brill/manichaeism-in-the-early-sasanian-empire-kNt1vXjaHr
Hi, I am a Persian speaker, though I have little to no knowledge of Middle Persian. When I saw the name on the screen, I read it as Xerad-e-shahr. To my modern persian understanding,it litterally means "the Wisdom of the city/land". I don't know how correct this reading is but if so it is of great interest how Christ was called so in Persian, since to Zorostrians wisdom was a divine feature.
A Hindu king is considered as messiah in your bible !! Explain this !!! 😂😂As per history Do you know king Cyrus, the great ?! He was considered as the anionted messiah (Isaiah 45:1) , the shepherd of Yahweh( Isaiah 44:28) , the delightful king of Yahweh .. His religion is Zoroastrianism and he worshipped God AHURA MAZDA ( Vedic God Varuna deva). Old Persian language is a part of Sanskrit.
Cyrus - Persian : Kūrus, Sanskrit: Kuru
Cambyses - Persian: Kabūjiya, Sanskrit : Kambujiya
Darius- Persian : Dārayavauš, Sanskrit: Dharayavasu
Xerxes- Persian : Khshayārsha , Sanskrit: Kshayaarsha
Ezra 1:8
The king who was placed to rule Jerusalem is king Sheshbazzar ( Persian name : fire worshiper) and Treasurer of Cyrus is Mithredath ( Persian name : given by God Mithra)
Through out the history , he is considered as a strong believer of God AHURA MAZDA . But he was a secular king and he allowed all people to follow their religion!! Read the Cyrus cylinder , in which he had build the Marduk temple and claimed he got the blessings of Marduk to capture Babylon.
@@SKH-kg1xw there were 3 wisemen/Zoroastrians at the birth of Christ
The actions of the Elect as liberating light seems to echo the Kabbalistic notions of "liberating the divine sparks" in tikkun ha-olam
Yeah, at first I was like "sounds like UU's" then later "sounds like Kabbalah"...
I was thinking the same thing. Very modern sensibilities in some ways, I love silk road literature bc it's so cosmopolitan
Well that's probably bc during that time cosmic dualism manifested within different scriptural and revealed/prophetic religions spanning asia into the middle east and Europe. There was immense cultural diffusion for centuries amidst the rise and fall of different empires and dynasties and class struggles in the region.
This is why I love the Internet. I would never have heard about such an interesting religion otherwise!
It’s not that interesting
@@shawnhall482 Christianity borrowed Original Sin comcept from Manichaenism. It was done by St Augustine.
Before this, Christianity believed in Karma & Freewill (& reincarnation).
@@trira1171 not karma
@@trira1171 karma is strictly a hindu concept and other religions connected with it
Are you interested in our community?
This is a fun episode. It doesn’t feel like homework but pure curiosity
Once you realise that there are far more things curious about the world than in the few hours set aside for homework, then young Padawan, you are starting to understand.
I love when doing my own tangential research brings me back to this channel
me: ayo what's your ideology?
mani being mani: *yes*
Normie
I am a proud Manichaen. Almost all religions are derived from some truth. But people corrupted them.
I vastly respect your ability to describe these practices with straight face.
"Yeah man, I totally can't do any of that work stuff or pick food or bake bread or anything like that because it's totally a sin. You got to do it for me and bring it here... I gotta stay pure, ya know"
Had no idea this religion existed. Pretty fascinating how far it spread through the silk road.
There are some theory about possible remnants of Manichaean temples in South India. The name Mani [ this is spelt maani , not same mani (pearl) ] is also common among some traditional Christians in Kerala. It is also interesting to see the cross in a supposedly Manichaean painting preserved in Seiunji temple in Japan which looks like a traditional cross depiction in Kerala. Early Arab travelers (? Abu Zaid in 916 AD ) mentions presence of Manichaeans in southern India. Iam really wondering whether these things are true.
That's a misunderstanding u have here... Mani has nothing to do with the Syrian Christians of Kerala... There's not a single evidence of Mani having their own symbol as a cross..
@@abimukeshs8229 A Hindu king is considered as messiah in your bible !! Explain this !!! 😂😂As per history Do you know king Cyrus, the great ?! He was considered as the anionted messiah (Isaiah 45:1) , the shepherd of Yahweh( Isaiah 44:28) , the delightful king of Yahweh .. His religion is Zoroastrianism and he worshipped God AHURA MAZDA ( Vedic God Varuna deva). Old Persian language is a part of Sanskrit.
Cyrus - Persian : Kūrus, Sanskrit: Kuru
Cambyses - Persian: Kabūjiya, Sanskrit : Kambujiya
Darius- Persian : Dārayavauš, Sanskrit: Dharayavasu
Xerxes- Persian : Khshayārsha , Sanskrit: Kshayaarsha
Ezra 1:8
The king who was placed to rule Jerusalem is king Sheshbazzar ( Persian name : fire worshiper) and Treasurer of Cyrus is Mithredath ( Persian name : given by God Mithra)
Through out the history , he is considered as a strong believer of God AHURA MAZDA . But he was a secular king and he allowed all people to follow their religion!! Read the Cyrus cylinder , in which he had build the Marduk temple and claimed he got the blessings of Marduk to capture Babylon.
@@entertainmentbusters9716 bot aano 😂
@@abimukeshs8229 what ?
I have many online Manichaen friends. Most of us are in China and in the Eastern USA.
I never clicked so fast in my life after seeing the notification.
Could you do videos on Oriental Orthodoxy and the Church of the East, their theology, ethics, and history?
This was quite fascinating! Thank you for making this video! I had come across the name of this religious tradition before, but I knew almost nothing about it. It's intriguing how flexible a religious tradition it was and how it came to share elements and features with Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. It's also interesting to consider how and why certain religious traditions disappeared (like Manichaeism) and others survived. I wonder how and why Manichaeism ultimately declined and disappeared. I'd have imagined that a religious tradition with such an extensive range from Egypt to Iran to China would have survived in some form to the present day. So many other religious traditions existed in pre-modern times, but are almost entirely gone today.
Would you possibly do the Valentinians or Cathars? I'm interested in more elaboration on traditions surrounding Gnosis
Currently working on a video about Valentinians.
Nice!
@@ReligionForBreakfast I hope you at least put Catharism at the bottom of your list.
Sethianism too, perhaps?
🙏🏻
There arent many videos done on this and youre literally my fav youtuber, and it was very informative. So thank you!
I've been waiting for this!
Been fascinated with this religion for a long time, except there wasn't much I knew about it so thank you for this video.
I'm reading a book about Genghis Khan's religious policies and it has a chapter more or less dedicated to this religion because of the Uyghurs, all of it quite interesting.
Talking foods is creepy. Imagine trying to eat veggies which suddenly talked cursing you for eating them instead of you cursing for being forced to eat veggies.
You ever hear of a show called Vegitales?
@@BrokenEyes00 I've heard about it but haven't watched yet
do it every time!
Yes, have you seen Sausage Party?
@@Jose-xh5qb just watched clips, i don't have money for subscriptions yet. 😅
Transcendent God, Emanations, Implanted Divine Sparks? Is there a connection between Manichaean theology and either later Kabbalah or some proto-Kabbalah?
@Mullerornis thank you. Common root in gnosticism was what I thought I had learned. Cool!
@Mullerornis Almost all religions have something similar. How literal or metaphorical the struggle is depends on each tradition, as do specific laws and aesthetics... But the material world is often considered to be illusory in some way. And almost all stress detachment from wealth, ego, worldly passions, and immoral behaviors. To reach the immaterial realm within and without the human body.
Basically all Gnosticism is just Kabbalah with extra steps, which is itself just satanism with extra steps.
@@ZonsoAvalune except modern Satanism comes from 18th-20th century gentlemen's social clubs and older forms of "Satanism" and "Pagan" religions were just Christian labels for any traditional animist/indigenous religion... And aren't related to so-called mystical Abrahamic or Zoroastrian traditions.
No, their is no connection
As a manichaean myself this video was amazing and so well informed. May Alaha bless you.
You sure your Manichaean?
@@Barong-AliTalib I am not sure what you want to know. I was baptized in a river, do the daily five prayers, believe in the blessed prophets, Zarathustra, Buddha, Jesus and mani (among some others), observe fasts on sunday from midnight to dusk, i do 30 day fast leading up to the festival of bema, I take part in the yimki-celebrations to venerate important Manichaeans like mir izgadda, and all of the archegos, I worship only one God: the father of greatness; Alaha, I believe God is not the creator and that his emenations created man in the image of the third emanation, I believe the entire wotkd to be equally corrupt and equally divine, I believe Mani to be the apostle of Jesus and the reincarnation of the Buddha of light, I believe in the two principles of light and dark, I acknowledge the existence of the lord of darkest (Ahriman, Beelzebub, Shaiytan) and his minions the asrestars, I acknowledge Eve (I would call her Murdiyanag) to be an evil archon and the offspring of the asrestars, I be plan to make pilgrimage to the last manichaean temple in china and to continue the work of evangelizing as was done by the most sacred and enlightened Mani. What more proof do I need to give to you?
@@MrCrowley6 who is “alaha”
@@DM5550ZGod
@@MrCrowley6Do you believe in one God?
I enjoyed this video and was quite suprised, as in my studies of religion Manikism is generally just lumped together (lazily at that) with Zorastrianism and mithraism as a fly by night mystery cult.
A "fly by night mystery cult" that was Christianity's main competitor for 500 years and possibly (if it does have ties to the Bogomils and Cathars, as some historians suggest) still influencing Christianity for another 500 years after that.
@@TechBearSeattle Is this a WARNING? Was Augustine of Hippo
OBJECTION to Manicheism it's
Practices of Tolerance and Inclusion???
Were the Massacre & Annihilation Against "Religious NON-Conformists"
...a potential portent of
Xtian Nat'l FASCIST Extremism being
Used to TOPPLE Crumbling USA Govt?
@@TD-np6ze You seem like a deeply troubled lunatic..Get rest.
@@alangervasis Have u forgotten that
*More DEATHS due to XTIAN
Persecution than ALL Other Causes?*
Are u blind to Xtian "Prophets???"
Might as well be 1930s
America First=Hitler Nothing to Worry
@@necroticneurons9555 Cassandra Syndrome??? "They heard the Warning - but their Ears Were CLOSED & their
Eyes Were BLIND!!!"
Pleading Ignorance about the RISE of
Xtian Nationalists Fascism
Just like poor pre-war Germans!!!
thank you for shedding light on this brief period of humans
First-rate. This will stimulate me to reading more on the mystery of Mani as it will others.
Looking forward to your film on Valentinians.
I’d love to hear what Mani thinks of Vegie Tales...
And you can hook up electrodes to plants and hear lots of stuff
I mean I'd assume with their love I've Paul, they'd love some Bob the Tomato.
I quite like drawn togethers take on veggie tales... Says it all really. Very nsfw.
He was vegetarian, so would love it in a sense I imagine?
@@LinuxUser00I think he was vegan.
Thank you to our host. Lots of research. Good presentation
That name of jesus, xradsar or khrad shahr means the government of wisdome. Shahr was used as government of Iranians. Nowadays we still call the citys as shahr.
Also Mani is famous in Iran because of his beautiful paintings which was called miraculous.
Love the fact that St Augustine was a Manichean for much of his life.
In a different world, Manichaeism conquered the world
@@newjerseyyouth4853 it was quite widespread
@@wergthy6392 and it could have changed, which often happens
@@Zeerich-yx9po hahaha.... Christianity is still hated by the world... No one respects the original laws ...Real christianity is being suppressed and took over or dominated by false worship system of the catholic church.... And also... Other religions also hates Christianity for being monotheistic... Islam borrowed their stories (rewritten some of them) and pretends that it's the conclusion of the Bible but actually its not.... Islam is a totally different religion.... The law of mosses was for the survival of Jews, but the Islam is used it for conquering the world... They are still using it... That's not infact Christianity's fault, but the actions of a false doctrine proposed by a false prophet
@@archeaglemichael1667 what kind of christian are you?
@@user-nc6td8ox1t I was born in a catholic family.... But I am against catholic...
We're learning about Augustine and Manicheanism in philosophy so I'm glad this video came up in my recommended
Very interesting, informative and worthwhile video.
I've watched so many of the old videos, its nice to finally keep up with new uploads. keep up the great work.
The food offering and prohibitions on harvesting fruits/vegetables is a Theravadan Buddhist monastic practice. We still practice it here in Asia, the daily food offering to monks.
I was JUST reading about this! thanks for making a video about it :3
wooo been waiting for this one
Awesome script for this. Your is probably my favorite "learning" channel
I would like to see more about sethian gnosticism, I find it interesting. Thanks for this video, I have been really interested in these lost religions
An insightful discourse
Thanks🙏🙏🙏🙏
Fascinating! This isn't a religion I've heard much about. Thanks!
Watching this to gain better context on Augustine, very informative!
i like how some religions can bring cultures of different peoples together
Like Islam. From Nigeria to Morocco to Yemen to Iran to Bangladesh to Indonesia. All races and continents.
We need more of this today
One of my favorite accounts of Manichaeism is in "Confessions" by St. Augustine. Largely because he was one of them before turning fully to Christianity.
The book is an excellent read on all levels.
@9:00 regarding not harvesting food or processing animals for food, but then "given" (?) that very same harvest and butchered meat made from other hands ... sounds similar to everyone today who wants to eat a hamburger, but doesn't want to know nor see where it originates from ! what a jip. Remember what Pinhead said in Hellraiser II, regarding a girl gifted in solving puzzles who solves the square mechanism that opens the door to another dimension: "It's not who opened the door that is responsible, it's the person who desired it to be opened that we will ... TEAR THEIR SOULS APART !" yeah, you kinda gotta be there. Great video. I really like this breakfast videos. Thanks for sharing. [edit typos]
Robert Sapolsky’s lecture on religious belief should be your next watch.
Can you do a video on norse religion ?
Video on Loki scheduled for next week!
@@ReligionForBreakfast nice you're by far the best religion research channel I've ever come across. So refreshing to get the story and facts without anything extra to cloud the stories. You give the history, the writings and let the watcher judge. Almost unheard of as most others have an agenda one way or another.
@@ReligionForBreakfast Mind as well do one on the Celts too. Some say the Celts were a modern creation (they were never a single religion but were many different tribal religions like those of Africa, North American Natives etc).
That might be the case with Vikings.
@@ReligionForBreakfast you should cover Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) after next week’s video. Your Hindu subscribers are waiting for a Hinduism video
You have helped many people pronounce Iran correctly. (EA-RUN). Thank you so much.
Makes as much sense as any other religion.
More like the ultimate Heresy
@@ikengaspirit3063 In fact, all "heresies" make as much sense as any other "orthodoxies". The only thing that distinguishes Heresy and Orthodoxy is which group enforced their views and persecuted other views more successfully.
@Josh Smith I know, right?
@@gabriels.carvalho4852 Nah, not really
It does adds up to see how revelations which Manichaeism have to not just enrich the cultures of Ancient cultures to Medieval eras and even right to this day, but also to explore further the Spiritual achievements and attainments of it's adherents and traditions
@@ohamatchhams Are we talking about purposes or traditions?
Love the channel. Keep up the good work.
Sounds like Mani ate some talking mushrooms.
Eatin dem tainted grainz, dawg
Perhaps he didn't & should have.
Wow this is such an awesome presentation. Love this channel
In particular, later instances Manicheism spread in the Uyghur/Yughur and Xia/Tangut areas was more aligned in Cosmology with Buddhism than Christianity - to point to the "Varieties of Manicheism" as you mentioned
I miss so many of these videos because the red line in the thumbnail makes me think i've already seen the video
*In a nutshell:*
•Manichaeism is a *Moksh-aligned religion* which gives precedence to Prophet Mani over other gurus
•Just as Buddhism is a Moksh-aligned religion which gives precedence to Buddhas over other gurus
•Just as Sikhism a Moksh-aligned religion which gives precedence to Satgurus over other gurus
•Just as Jainism is a Moksh-aligned religion which gives precedence to Tirthankars over other gurus
•Etc
Very interesting video, thanks for making
I'd love to see a video about the development of greco Roman paganism in the second and third century, and its own internal developments- accounts of the period are always about how the relatively small Christian church formed and spread, but I barely ever see anything about whether there were new religious movements within paganism. Was temple attendance or public piety actually declining significantly before christianisation killed it? Was the isis movement in decline by the 3rd century?
Yes! One of my favourite religions to read on.🤩🔥🔥🔥
His title "Mani" most probably roots from the ancient Buddhist mantra "Aum Mani Padma Hum" ✨🙏✨ his dharma/religion is also known as "Ayeen e Mehr" in Persian, meaning "the Way of Love"
I've seen a few of ur vids now & must say well done, I find all of these really interesting & informative leaving me in some cases to read up further. I have now subscribed + hit that bell. Keep up the good work cheers Buddy, Mark
Yesss I’ve wanted this one!
Thanks for that illuminating history and background on Manicheism. Sounds like they had a broader understanding of the world's diversity and tried to reconcile with that variety, until more parochial mindsets prevailed. Could provide insights into our own state of affairs.
World goes through cycles of globalization and localization. Manichaeism prospered during that cycle of globalism and suffered during the following isolationism only to be replaced by Islam in the next cycle of globalism. Democracy and individual rights can be considered as the religion of our cycle of globalization and it too will go away when people swing towards isolationism.
Wonder if Tolkien was inspired by Manichean belief when he wrote The Tale of the Sun and the Moon, which were literal storage vessels of light created by the Valar. As an academic he must have been familiar with a lot of religions and mystical traditions.
Probably, but I couldn't find anything on it. Could also just be influenced by Christianity like many of his works.
@@enniopaone Biblical influences are indeed present in Tolkiens mythology but he tapped stories and tales from all over the place.
I see parallels between eru illuvitar and melkor pairing and the pairing of ahuramazda and angra mainyu as the embodiments of good and evil
@@halikarnak1862 Melkor is explicitly a rebelious creation of Eru, rather than an equal pairing, which makes his existence most similar to the fall of Lucifer, or maybe the creation of Yahweh in Gnostic tradition at a stretch.
Beautiful video as usual 😊
Interesting video
So many self proclaimed apostles even in the ancient past. Great vid.
In Voltaire's novel Candide, the philosopher Martin is called the world's last Manichaeist. Manichaeism can be considered a religion as extinct as Tyrannosaur worship.
That's where I first heard of it, actually. That's probably my favorite book of all time.
@@frankbaz6449 To read Voltaire is to love Voltaire. One of my very favorite writers.
Manichaeism is being revived.
@@DM5550Z Must have been in a lull during the 18th century.
Religion for Breakfast is full of interesting and well informed content.
I would love to see you make a video exploring deism.
Might convert. Thanks for the summory.
Plenty of Ethnic Qarsherskiyan people converted in the 90s. Now many were born into Manichaeism. There's a few hundred spread around the Qarsherskiyan communities in the Eastern USA.
Are you interested, eh?
I suggest a companion video showing how Christianity incorporated local beliefs into its doctrine. Like Jesus birth being celebrated near winter solstice from Saturnalia or Day of the Dead (All souls day) from Aztecs.
he did a great video on why Christmas is on Dec 25 and he talks about the connection with Saturnalia:
th-cam.com/video/3DHbOpS-N0c/w-d-xo.html
Watch his video on Christmas. You probably won't like what you hear
Now I have to look up the Mandeans. I have not heard of that before
its a good day when you upload
Love your work.
Okay can we all agree that Zurvan is an awesome name?
I think Manichaeanism represents something of an alternate history for what Christianity would have been had it went east rather than west. Its easy to think of Mani and Paul as similar, and to suppose that Paul's success and Mani's unsuccess being switched.
It's sad how Mani was born after Yeshua. if Mani was born before and replace Yeshua as Moses it could been still active and missionary successful.
Anyone else super atheist but love this channel?
me to
WOW i never knew this was so interesting ...You are the best! Thank you!
Funny how humans have been practicing agriculture for tens of thousands of years, but none of our harvests ever spoke to their farmer until Mani came around.
Can we get a bookshelf tour? I would love a bookshelf tour!
Looks like a chess set, and a backgammon set.
No wonder Augustine has a brewery named after him, Great line
That'll come from the fact Monks and Abbey were basically brewery's but yhea..
Fascinating! Great video!
This trend of combining prophets and religious beings and being a sole universal prophet for all seems to be a common occurence in the Near East, e.g with Mani, Mohammed and all the other less successful 'prophets' that arose there.
There's so many ignorant comments here, and you take the cake for being the outmost ignorant here, in fact that Islam is winning and keep growing the most compared to any other religion is uncontrollable to any powers and authorities of The World
True, though Mani seems to have been a bit more humble than Mohammed in this case. Whereas Islam demotes Jesus to being simply a prophet, with later prophets having more precedence, and with Mohammed being the seal of the prophets elevating himself as the most important, Mani maintains Jesus' special position and styles himself as merely an apostle of Jesus.
Thanks from TAIWAN
It sounds like a type of "meta-religion" (not sure if that's the right term) that Mani sought to include all religions. I wonder if there's any connection to the Baháʼí faith? Is there a family of religions that attempt to include all other religions?
To be honest, this universalism idea is both pretty fascinating and respectable, if only it weren't centralized only on Mani and his elects, but everyone.
It would be interesting if he did a series on the religious movements in the late 19th century like the second great awakening, the millerites, the German templar community in Palestine as well as the religions that came out of it east and west like Seventh day Adventist, Jehovahs, Ahadiyya Muslims, Baha'is etc....